Attractions

Most visitors to Beijing tick the Great Wall and the Forbidden City off their list and head home thinking they’ve seen imperial China. I made that mistake on my first…

The first time I visited Beijing Beihai Park, it was a gray Wednesday in early November. I had already done the Forbidden City the day before and was suffering from…

The first time I stepped off the shuttle bus at the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park east gate, I honestly thought the postcards were lying. Then the morning fog lifted for…

The first time I stood at the bottom of the cable car station in Zhangjiajie city, I had no idea that Tianmen Mountain Zhangjiajie would become the single most jaw-dropping…

The first time I stood on the Great Wall, I made the classic rookie mistake: I followed the crowds to Badaling without asking whether it was the right section for…

The first time I climbed the long switchback ramp toward the Potala Palace Lhasa, I was out of breath after only forty steps — and that was before I’d reached…

The first time I landed in China, I figured I’d tick off the Great Wall and call it a trip. Three years and dozens of provinces later, I’ve learned the…

I still remember the first time I stood on a watchtower at 4:50 a.m. with frost on the battlements and my camera fogging from the cold. Then the sky cracked…

I still remember the first time I stood on a Huangshan Yellow Mountain ridge at 5:40 in the morning, half-asleep and shivering, watching the granite peaks turn from grey to…

The first time I stood at the edge of Five Flower Lake, I genuinely forgot to take a photo. The water was such an impossible shade of turquoise that my…